Fire in a Crowded Theater
by Megamafan16
Summary: Optimus Prime reminisces on the time Backdraft helped him thwart a plot by the Decepticons to pilfer fuel from an Air Force fuel dump...and then nearly destroyed the facility in a surge of Pyromania! This is an old story of mine that hasn't been posted before. Contains an OC. Rated T for mentions of suicide or 'self-destruction', to use mechanical slang .


Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. Hasbro Does.

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THE TRANSFORMERS in...

Fire in a Crowded Theater! (Starring Autobot Backdraft)

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(FWOOOSH!)

"BACKDRAFT! WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE ALLSPARK WAS THAT?" shouted an angered Ironhide. Immediately, Ironhide tapped into his internal chemical factory, and produced a foam that put out all the flames that were searing his front plating...all the while, glaring at the red Autobot, with a faceplate that resembled a gas-mask, that set him on fire in the first place.

"Mphhhmphmphmph!" grunted Backdraft (as he cannot communicate with spoken words, due to a damaged voicebox), who shouldered his high-heat pressure blaster, and then walked away. Had Ironhide followed him around the corner, he would have seen him slapping himself in the face, frustrated that it happened again. Instead, Ironhide went the other way...

...straight towards Optimus Prime, who was watching the vidscreen in the briefing room, cruising through a slideshow of satellite images surrounding a previous Decepticon attack. Ironhide stormed up to the Autobot leader, turned off the vid-screen, and shouted "I...HAVE...HAD IT WITH BACKDRAFT! I WANT HIM OFF THIS PLANET LAST SOLAR CYCLE!"

Optimus Prime looked at the veteran warrior sternly, and calmly stated "That's my call to make, Ironhide. Not yours." and then attempted to turn the slide show back on (he might have missed something)...

...but his hand was grabbed by a still angry Ironhide. "THEN MAKE THAT CALL! IF I HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THAT MUMBLING, PROCESSOR-LESS, TRIGGER-HAPPY VIRUS ONE MORE NANOKLIK, I-"

Suddenly, blue arcs of energy danced all over Ironhide's body, and he collapsed, revealing Ratchet behind him. The Autobot Medic turned off the glowing device he had just jabbed into Ironhide, and said "I prefer using servo-relaxant on patients who are too rowdy to treat. But for today, I'll make an exception."

"Thanks, Doc! My audios are still ringing!" said Optimus Prime, adjusting the sound-receptors on the sides of his helmet. Then, he looked at the stunned Ironhide by his feet, and knelt down by him. "You need to learn to control your temper, Ironhide."

Inhibited by the energy coursing through him, Ironhide managed to whisper, "_But... Backdraft attacked me! He's practically a Decepticon, he does this so much!_"

Ratchet knelt down next to Optimus, and said "We know that. We all know. He does, too."

"_So why haven't you gotten rid of him already?"_

Optimus looked up, then back down at Ironhide, and said "Remember our second mission with him?

"_Oh, yes. I remember..."_

-30 days ago-

As they drove to their destination, the Autobot leader (in his semi-truck disguise) addressed the convoy behind him: "Alright, Autobots, listen up. Starscream and his Seekers have camped out in the military hangar, hoping to pilfer the jet-fuel reserves for Megatron. Our job is to evict these unwanted guests."

"Sounds good to me!" exclaimed an eager Sideswipe. (a red sports car)

"Let's Go Get 'em!" said Brawn. (a miniature camping van)

"Mphhmphmph!" mumbled Backdraft. (a red car with rocket boosters on it's back.)

Optimus Prime then said, "Remember, Autobots; there are highly flammable fuel tanks in here. Use close-combat unless there is ZERO possibility of hitting the fuel. I brought Inferno along, but you need to ensure he shouldn't have to do any fire-extinguishing. Got that, men?"

"YES SIR!" everyone shouted.

After the Autobots acknowledged, Optimus cruised right next to Backdraft; "And please, try not to firebomb the place once we leave. The last Decepticon camp was in the middle of nowhere, but there might be humans inside this one. We must preserve their safety."

"MmmHMM!" emphasized Backdraft, phrased in a rhythm that sounded like "Yes SIR!"

Within seconds, they reached the hangar, and the Autobots known as Optimus Prime, Sideswipe, Brawn, Inferno (a fire truck), Gears(a red-and-blue SUV), and Backdraft transformed from cars, into robots! They walked inside the doors...and all of a sudden were paralyzed with fear! They stopped cold, right in front of the Decepticons known as Starscream; Thundercracker; Thrust; Ramjet; Skywarp; and Dirge (who was using his built-in fear-ray blaster on the Autobots)!

"Well done, Dirge!" remarked the evil decepticon called Starscream, in direction of the robot blasting the Autobot intruders with a fear-ray. Then, he promptly ordered Thrust and Thundercracker to ready their sonic arsenal, and attack the Autobots with dual sonic booms...

But then, Dirge suddenly noticed one of the Autobots – Backdraft – charging towards him, despite the fear-ray bombarding his sensors with horrific images! The mumbling robot ran right up to Dirge, pointed his massive weapon at the Decepticon, and fired. Within seconds, a ton of pressure, coupled with 500-degree (Fahrenheit) temperatures, slammed into the evil robot like a fully-charged plasma cannon.

Suddenly freed of the fear-ray's effects (owing to the fact that it's user was no longer using it), Optimus Prime shouted "Nice work, Backdraft! Autobots, engage!"

Before Thundercracker and Thrust could regain their senses, and recharge their sonic weapons, Brawn and Gears ran up to them, and knocked them down.

Skywarp teleported behind the group, hoping to get them all with a surprise attack...but Sideswipe turned around, and roundhouse-kicked the black Decepticon in the face.

Ramjet charged forward, his pointy head ready to smash the Autobots...but he suddenly slipped on a puddle of flame-retardant foam, as a human would slip on a banana peel! He crashed into the wall, as Inferno laughed at the scene he created.

Starscream, after seeing all this, didn't even bother waiting for Optimus to come up to him and bash him in. He immediately ran for the back door, shouting "DECEPTICONS! RETREAT!" as he did.

Immediately, all of the Decepticons got up, located the nearest exit, and ran outside. And the instant they were outside, they all transformed into their vehicle modes: F-15 fighter jets. The Autobots managed to hear Starscream say this as he left: "If only Megatron hadn't ordered us to disable our primary weapons, then we would've won! Who cares about a little jet fuel anyway? There's plenty of energy sources on this planet; a few gallons of fuel is no big loss!"

The Autobots cheered. Then, they started to drive away. Sideswipe then stated, "That was almost Too easy!"

Gears added "Yeah. Since when was Backdraft immune to Dirge's fear-beams?"

Optimus Prime, always the compassionate one, said; "We'll find out later. For now, we all owe the mission to…" He was about to say 'Backdraft', but then he suddenly noticed something…

"Hey, where'd Backdraft go off to?" asked Brawn, causing everyone to stop. Before anyone could answer, Backdraft zoomed up right in front of Optimus, using his vehicle-mode boosters to catch up with the convoy.

"Where were you, Backdraft?" Optimus was about to ask, but then he remembered what happened last mission, when he lagged behind...

Immediately, Optimus turned around, and ordered the other Autobots to do so as well. Further, he added "We don't have much time! The humans may be in danger!"

Before anyone could ask what was going on, they found out…

FWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSHHH!

Suddenly, the front area of the hangar burst into flames. Everyone knew instantly what happened: Backdraft disobeyed Optimus Prime's direct order, and firebombed the hangar anyway. However, disciplinary action would come later, they all agreed wordlessly: their first priority was to save the humans, and put out the fire before it ignited the fuel tanks.

Inferno, in his fire-truck form, headed straight for the main blaze. As soon as he got in range, he sprayed water and flame-retardant foam onto the burning mass.

Optimus opened his tractor trailer, and deployed a bio-scanner. Within seconds, it picked up the telltale heartbeats of humans. Optimus transmitted the coordinates to Gears and Brawn, who started punching down walls with their super strength. Within a minute, they had reached the men who worked at the hangar, and carried them away from the blaze in their gigantic metal hands.

In no time at all, the blaze Backdraft started was under control, and Optimus went back to try and get Backdraft to explain why he disobeyed a direct order. When he got there, he found...Sideswipe standing over an unconscious Backdraft, who had a few of his metal plates torn off!

Horrified to see an Autobot's circuitry exposed like this, Optimus shouted "WHAT...HAPPENED...HERE?"

Sideswipe (who was already very shaken before Prime raised his voice) stammered: "I...I tried to stop him, Optimus! I really did! But as soon as I asked why he did it, he...tried to self-destruct! He tried to rip out his own power core!"

Immediately, Optimus' attitude towards Backdraft changed. Despite the fact that he nearly put human lives at risk, that didn't mean they could leave him to rust. Optimus turned on his communicator, and said: "Ratchet, we have an Autobot down."

-End Flashback-

Ironhide was very shocked to hear this. "_Why didn't anybody tell me he tried to self-destruct?_"

"We told everyone. We assumed you were there."

Ratchet spoke up: "Anyway, I brought him here to the medical bay, and after I patched him up, I ran a full diagnostic. What I found was the most damaged processor I've seen in eons. There were burn marks all over his internal curcuitry."

"_Burn marks? He was in a fire?_"

"Yes. I accessed his memory files, and it turns out that 42 million Stellar Cycles ago, during the war, his home was destroyed by Decepticon firebombs. Now, every time he's in a Decepticon stronghold, the memory returns to him, and that triggers an electrical surge that causes him to set incendiaries in the base. On compulsion, which means he cannot stop himself if he tried. Humans suffer from something similar – they call it Pyromania."

Ironhide took it all in, processed it, and said, "_Wow. But I still have a few question. Like, for example, why did he blast me in the hallway?_"

"It's another compulsion thing; subconsciously, he percieves every Cybertronian around him as a Decepticon, coming to 'finish the job' they started 42 million years ago. He always aims for the allegiance symbols, trying to expose a Decepticon badge underneath the 'fake' Autobot one."

"_And why haven''t you guys fixed this?_"

Ratchet was offended; "What makes you think we haven't _tried_? I cannot find a process that could restore his circuits while still keeping his personality intact. With my current methods, I'd have to rewrite his hardware in order to fix him!"

Optimus took over: "Ratchet's been working overtime this past Deca-cycle to develop a process that could reverse the damage to Backdraft's circuits. In the meantime, we're keeping him here at base. No humans to endanger, and his weapon cannot do lethal damage when he lashes out at us. You see, Ironhide, this is the reason I keep him on this planet: He has nowhere else to go."

-Later that day-

Ironhide walked up to Backdraft, who was sitting all by himself.

"Ummm, Backdraft? I'm...sorry I yelled at you earlier. I didn't know your processor was damaged. I was a real mudflap back there, and I...apologize. So, no hard feelings?"

"Mpphhmphmphphhmphmph." grunted Backdraft, as he sat up to shake Ironhide's hand...just then, a familiar cracking sound was heard.

"Oh, slag," cursed Ironhide, as he knew what was coming...

(FWOOOSH!)

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This one's an old one I made for High-School Creative Writing, so it's been sitting around in my flash drives for a _long_ time. I decided to post it now, (after some new editing,) just because.

I took my inspiration for Backdraft from the Pyro (Team Fortress 2), for those who didn't catch it.


End file.
